Home : Privacy & Technology

Genetic Repositories (03/21/2007)
Recent advances in genomics, bioinformatics and data mining are encouraging a worldwide proliferation of "gene banks". The ACLU is exploring the implications of this emerging arena of science and medicine.

Biosecurity (03/21/2007)
Any response to a public health emergency should safeguard civil liberties as well as health, at minimum those Americans already expect from their health care providers, such as a commitment to informed consent, fairness, and medical privacy.

Gene Patents (03/21/2007)
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted tens of thousands of patents on human genetic sequences. In addition to inhibiting freedom of research, patents on human genes raise troubling questions about the rights of patients and whether parts of human beings should be patentable at all.

Genetic Testing (03/21/2007)
Today, more than 1,000 clinical genetic tests can be applied at any point of the life cycle. As genetic testing enters into routine health care, it is critical to protect patient privacy and guard against genetic discrimination.

Neuroscience (03/21/2007)
Two private companies have announced plans to market software that purportedly allows users to detect deception using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). So far there is little proof that such high-tech, brain-scanning lie detectors would be any better than polygraph, which has been repeatedly shown to be ineffective. However, since fMRI scanners take a dynamic picture of the living brain, its use for lie detection and interrogation purposes raises the specter of the government attempting to deploy this technology to "read your mind," whether or not its efficacy has been proven.

Genetics and Race (03/21/2007)
The use of racial categories in genomic biology and biomedicine has become increasingly common. While racial health disparities are an important challenge for public health, it is important that interventions not reinforce the inequalities they seek to address.

Forensic DNA Databanks (03/20/2007)
State and Federal DNA databanks are expanding at an alarming rate

Response to AT&T SEC Petition from As You Sow (01/17/2007)

AT&T Petition to SEC to Omit NSA Resolution (01/17/2007)

Automated Targeting System (11/22/2006)

Why the "Registered Traveler" Program Will Not Make Airline Passengers Any Safer (08/17/2006)

ACLU Comments to the FCC on AT&T-BellSouth Merger Calling for Investigation of NSA Data-Sharing Allegations (06/06/2006)

ACLU Forum: Technology and the Future (05/12/2006)
The ACLU is inaugurating a new speaking series, The Forum on Technology & the Future, with a talk by the renowned security technologist Bruce Schneier. The series will feature on a roughly bimonthly basis a variety of experts discussing cutting-edge technologies and their implications for the future of civil liberties. Events will be archived for download.